Feed Yourself: Step Away from the Lies of Diet Culture and into Your Divine Design

by Leslie Schilling

Break the chains of diet culture once and for all. Diet culture permeates American society--even in our safest of places. It lurks in schools, playground conversations, medical offices, and even in our places of worship. We're often sold well-meaning messages wrapped in Bible verses that are actually rooted in the diet culture born of this world. It's only when you begin to see diet culture's lies that you can fight back, build resilience, and trust your divine design. Christian dietitian and nutrition therapist Leslie Schilling counsels hundreds of people every year who are struggling with food, body concerns, chronic dieting, and disordered eating. She helps them understand diet-culture myths, fight the lies we've been told (and sold), and discover the truth about health, well-being, and how God sees us. In Feed Yourself, you'll learn how. It's time to accept that you are fearfully and wonderfully made--a truth unrelated to your body size or what's on your plate. Cheers to freedom!

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Nutrition, Audiobook, Faith

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN, CEDS-S is a nationally recognized registered dietitian & nutrition therapist. Through her years as a nutrition professional, Leslie has practiced in many settings, including infant nutrition, general pediatrics, and children with special health care needs. In addition, she focuses her own private practice on counseling families, those of all ages with disordered eating issues, and professional athletes and performers. With her warm, compassionate, and entertaining personality, Leslie been featured in Women’s Health, BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post, USNews, Pregnancy Magazine, The Yoga Journal, and on HGTV.

Leslie owns Schilling Nutrition, a Las Vegas-based private nutrition and wellness coaching business. Leslie is a self-proclaimed anti-diet dietitian who teaches health through self-care and pleasurable eating. When she’s not counseling, writing, cooking, or hiking with her family; you can find Leslie using her social media channels and speaking platforms to deliver science-based, non-diet lifestyle and wellness messages with a dash of humor. Leslie the creator and co-author of Born To Eat.

Reviews

[Evelyn DS · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. Made some good points about how diet culture can be spiritual warfare that distracts us from what is really important. But I almost wish it wasn’t a Christian book because I felt like all the verses she used were out of context. “Fighting the good fight” does not mean standing up to diet culture. Diet culture is not Goliath and we are not David up against it. She failed to talk about sin nature breaking our relationship with our bodies and blames all of it on diet culture. She also makes it seem like any attempt or desire to lose weight is sin, which I do not agree with. I agree that churches are often where people associate dieting with morality, and this book might be helpful for someone with that mindset.

[Kaitlyn Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! This is a fantastic read for anyone fighting diet culture, from clinicians to every person tired of being at war with their body. While the faith base of the book may not be for everyone, it is perfect for those looking to incorporate their Christian beliefs into their journey.

[Sadie Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely flew through this & absolutely changed my life! Was so refreshing to hear this topic from a biblical perspective. This is a book I will reference often. So thankful for my friend who recommended this

[Rebecca Feere · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best book I have read about diet culture! The author clearly defines diet culture and then reveals how it has infiltrated our culture. The book discusses lies diet culture has caused us to believe and then arms us with the truth to combat those lies. This was an eye-opening read, and I have been aware of diet culture for quite some time. Leslie drives her points home with clarity and passion. It is clear her desire is for all of us to be set free from the bondage of diet culture. If you are unsure what diet culture is, you should read this! It has most likely impacted your life to some degree.

[Katharine Grubb · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you find yourself counting calories, using apps to track food, engaging in distorted eating, or curious about why those in your life do this, I recommend this book. I loved so many aspects of the messages throughout this book. I am not a follower of Jesus. However, the Schilling’s messages beyond the Christian lens can be appreciated and applicable to many listeners. I take what works for me, apply it how it makes sense to me, and leave the rest. A solid listen, read by the author.

[Brooke Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super good—refreshing, wise & couldn’t recommend more! Something not talked about enough in the church & in healthcare for that matter!

[Elissa]

Won paperback in a giveaway. Dropped.

I picked up this book because I'm trying to change the way I think about food and habits and a bunch of other related things. One thing a different book said struck me, and I've been thinking about it ever since was that "Being overweight is never about food." And yeah. I think that might actually be true. So, this book is about diet, so I said why not see what other ideas are out there. So here I am.

Intro: Okay, so this book is about mindset change rather than focusing on habits, which is a similar target to my above goal. That being said, the mode is odd (starts off with a long apology, kind of targeting the emotional aspects of diet) and I think it's funny that she includes almost immediately the language of a different deception. She makes sure to hit the woke highlights, lightly apologizing for western errors, and including her white skintone in the details. Frankly I don't care what skintone she is, and personally I think that's very sus. But I'm glossing on that for now. I do think that since she talks about church being the source of some of these lies, there would be more direct reference to God and Jesus and not just a casual wave at "evil." So. We'll see if it gets better or worse from here. I'll note that she added the phrase "divine design" on the cover, so it's funny that it seems to be targeting woke Christian church women.

I'm at the beginning of Chapter 7 and I am dropping this. There are a few logical reasons why:
1. I think she just flipflopped on her deception of choice from measure everything to do what feels good, both of which are disappointing.
2. She has not presented any data for her conviction. Accusations yes, anecdotes yes, reliable data points, consistently no.
3. Arguments are largely from Feelings. This could be a much more defined book.
4. Missed opportunities. Where she does provide something that seems close to a data point - iron deficiency - she does not tell us anything useful about this finding. If it can be tested, how do we get that iron test you speak of? How do we move from suspicion and "Science is not scientific" to "Well here's how we test the spirits" - this is a Christian book is it not? Actually I think it's not.
5. I don't know why she has "divine design" on the front cover; all of the scripture she uses are afterthoughts - she does not argue from the bible, but she uses the bible at the end to "confirm" her conclusions at the end of each chapter.
6. She argues from the negative (unfortunately, preposterous, wasn't, mistakes, "overuses scare quotes" , apologies) rather than the positive (defined, objective, action, change, thinking, invested, positive, prayer, love, truth, hope, grace).

[Stephanie Mccall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased Feed Your Self with good intentions, but it sat in my Kindle library for months, maybe a year, before I actually read most of it. That doesn't mean it's a bad book, though. If anything, that's on me because at first, I found Feed Your Self almost too emotional and personal to read. But once I did psyche myself up to finish it, I found a lot of good stuff inside--a lot to "chew on," but many "nourishing" things.

For some context, I have not experienced some of the extreme situations Leslie Schilling speaks to and about in her book. However, I do have mild cerebral palsy and level 1 autism, the latter of which was not diagnosed until adulthood. For me, autism involved what was mislabeled "picky eating" as a major symptom, and because cerebral palsy did not affect my ability to eat or swallow, my weight was all over the place, from slightly chubby to pandemic zaftig to scary skinny.

I have been on at least four restrictive diets and heard a lot of negative messaging about my body, the foods I know are safe, the way I choose to eat, and so on. So reading Feed Your Self was a huge challenge for me. In a lot of ways, I still feel unprepared to "step into" all the truths Leslie brings out here. That said, they are truths, and they are vital in many ways.

I particularly appreciate the way Leslie backs up her thesis with facts, most of which I didn't know or was not completely familiar with. For instance, I did not know that originally, the concept of Body Mass Index was created by a European male, to measure the compositions of European men, for a specific study. So yes, based on that, I do have to ask why medical professionals are still using it for every person who comes into their offices? I also did not know American law allows the estimates on nutrition labels to be off by at least 30%, or that many of the calorie deficit recommendations on diets are less than what is or should be recommended for a toddler. In a culture that claims going against the grain on things like dieting is fueled by emotion, hedonism, and the like, those facts really got me thinking.

If I appreciated the facts, I also loved how Leslie pulled the curtain back on the fact, our culture treats "healthism" and dieting like a religion. She pulls no punches about it, either, comparing the scale to a metal idol and using phrases like, "Calories are not heavenly currency." I admit, as a woman who tries to be practical and unemotional about this kind of thing, I could've said, "She's going way too far." But the truth is, having done the restrictive diets, having told myself I was weak for wanting and desiring food, having felt victorious as my stomach yowled from hunger--yeah. It's a religion, Christians can be tricked into letting it take the place of Christ (specifically in this instance, for this book), I fell for it, and it's time someone said it.

I love the fact that Leslie spent time talking about how diet culture affects kids, and what adults can and should do to counteract it. It made me angry, especially the parts where Leslie brought up diet culture within the church (what business is it of a youth pastor's whether a girl has a date or not, and what business does he have telling her to go on a diet to get a date)? But this is reality, and it's something of which parents, guardians, and church staff must be cognizant. I loved the idea of joyful movement and listening to one's interoceptive cues from the time you are a child.

Finally, I liked how even though Leslie points out the Bible says nothing about how our bodies are to look, she does use (most of) her Scripture choices to underline what God *does* say about the human body and the people He creates and loves (because God loves all His creations equally). There is a place near the end where she pulls out Ephesians 6 and encourages women to use their spiritual armor against diet culture, and--well, I can't believe that was coincidental.

There were a few things that cost Feed Yourself a star. First and most importantly, I did find a couple times where I thought Leslie was using Scripture out of context. Your mileage may vary on that, but for instance, she uses Romans 8:38-39 to say that nothing, not even diet and body shape, can separate us from the love of Christ. But unlike St. Paul, I'm not convinced--as in not convinced Paul would make that verse "fit" into Leslie's thesis. I also noticed she quotes people like Sarah Bessey, Bob Goff, or Nadia Bolz-Weber in Feed Yourself. The quotes themselves are encouraging, but the people behind them have been proven to follow a form of Christianity to which I don't subscribe and could make other readers think God is or is not saying what He never said.

Additionally, I often found myself asking some questions Feed Yourself didn't answer. A big one, no pun intended, was what happens if a person reading this book actually is morbidly obese? Now again, I am not and never have been. I also disagree with the harsh diets these people are placed on, and was convicted at the way society, myself included, has been encouraged to judge them via TV, social media, and so on. But I did wonder, if the number of your weight begins with a 3, 4, 5, or 6, how would Feed Yourself's thesis fit into your life? Would it help or hurt? And would that in turn just feed the diet culture trolls, which I definitely don't want to do anymore?

Finally, I did notice that Leslie talks about privilege and similar concepts when discussing diet culture. I know personally, these concepts do exist. But having just come off another nonfiction book that pulled back the curtain on the differences between social vs. Biblical justice, I don't see Leslie's logic in some places. I also noticed, disability was rarely mentioned (per the norm), while other minority groups and positions were talked about at length. Social or Biblical, I don't think that's just. And while this is not a book specifically about disability and diet culture, I'd have liked at least some specific discussion.

All that being said, Feed Your Self got me thinking, and as I said, even repenting of some of my own (real) behavior, such as being a voyeur for the morbidly obese or immediately assuming large people were bad people, because they are large. (Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner). It's a particularly good book for women, a great encouragement for those who have endured the yo-yoing and the harsh diets, and generally well written. It inspired me to keep looking and keep digging, and to pray to know how to care for myself physically, mentally, and spiritually. I hope the same for other readers and, for the discerning and mature ones, can recommend it.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! I’ve been in and out of recovery from an eating disorder for years and I have learned so much about rejecting the diet culture and healing my relationship with food, but even with the years I learned about the anti diet I still felt like something was holding me back from achieving further progress in recovery. This book helped me realize what has held me back and that I have not included God in my recovery. This book showed me the love God graciously gives and how the enemy is hidden into so many places, many of them being places you thought you were safe from. This book helped give me a new perspective revealing how diet culture has made its way into the churches telling lies and how I now realize that what I really need to further my recovery is to see the lies of the enemy and the truth and love of God.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be perfect for a very specific group of people—specifically evangelical Christians who are interested in learning about anti-diet stuff for the first time. If that’s you, then read on. It’s not me, so it wasn’t a treat fit for me. But it was a gentle reminder for a lot of the anti-diet principles that have helped me recover from a terrible relationship with food, so that was nice.

[Jenny K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book challenges the culture’s views on our bodies and compares it with the Biblical view of our bodies. We have worth to God no matter our size. And while I agree with the premise, she doesn’t present much of a follow through. If you aren’t going to “diet”, how do you maintain health?

[Lauren Malik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I didn’t know this was going to be Christian faith based approach. I skipped through some of those parts and still was able to take away really good info about diet culture

[Raven · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. This book was recommended to me by a new friend from church, and I was very excited to read it. For context, I am a Christian female of color, a health care provider, and someone who has worked with a registered dietitian for a couple of years now.

I wanted to love this book because I think the discussion is so necessary. The author is talented, thoughtful, and earnest in her delivery. Unfortunately, I do not feel like I was the target audience of this book. I expected consistent debunking of diet culture and its harmful effects, and perhaps mindset guidance on how to nourish oneself from a foundation of being fearfully and wonderfully made, and honoring God in your body. While the author clearly communicated a message of bodily acceptance as a treasured image bearer of Christ (yes and Amen!), some content in the book was overly simplified and potentially harmful. As a healthcare provider who spends a significant portion of my time combatting misinformation and skepticism from my patients, I am disappointed in fellow professionals who discredit their colleagues. I am fully aware that I don't know everything and never will; the day a doctor or other professional claims to have all the answers is the day they should stop practicing medicine. The best healthcare providers always provide evidence-based, patient-centered care that welcomes curiosity and vows benevolence and nonmaleficence. I feel that this book made culturally insensitive, technically incompetent care sound ubiquitous, and encouraged a default mode of "assume your doctor does not know what they are talking about, and be prepared to refuse care because they don't know better." That is dangerous rhetoric, especially considering communities that have historically suffered harm at the hands of HCPs and already struggle with distrust. Furthermore, a significant portion of the book read like an essay in which the author shares what she has learned as a privileged person about inequity, injustice, and ther pervasiveness of discrimination in all industries, including nutrition. I was reminded of the feelings I endured in 2020 listening to others discover what I and so many others have known our whole lives, because we have lived it. Exhausting, and a little frustrating to say the least. Lastly, the author frequently criticized others for pairing dietary advice with a bible verse out of context, but unfortunately she did the same in more than one chapter.

Despite some major red flags, this book offers a hopeful and empowering message, and may be especially helpful for those recovering from disordered eating. I have no doubt this author cares deeply for her patients. I feel this read equipped me to step away from the lies of diet culture, but the laissez-faire next steps were somewhat directionless and don't necessarily set the scene to steward our bodies well going forward. Rounding up, but if I were to recommend this book, it would come with a few caveats.

[Amy Ingalls · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know how pervasive diet culture is, and how harmful it can be. I grew up getting messages from the adults in my life about what my body should look like and what I had to do to have a good (skinny) body. I think the author is spot-on about the dangers of diet culture and the long-lasting harm that it causes. However, the book was lacking. I expected part two to talk about how to be a good steward of your body, and while she touched on sleep, joyous movement, and stress reduction, she fell short. Someone who is morbidly obese, who cannot run or play with their child due to weight, needs more guidance than simply "reject diet culture and accept yourself." I would assume she works with these people in her practice and helps them to get healthier, but she didn't give the reader any indication how.

This book is very Christian, which isn't really me, but I was still able to get something out of it. However, it may be hard for some people to get through, especially if they are not of the same faith.

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good & important read! I listened to the audiobook version, and I loved it. This book is well-organized and thoroughly explained. The author was very compassionate and understanding, guiding the reader by answering common questions/contradictions when it comes to diet culture. I'm not religious at all, and I found that Leslie's use of the Bible and references to the church and Christianity served as a good example of how diet culture can show up in any of our safe spaces, whether that's in the doctor's office, at home, a religious institution, or other places that we should be able to feel accepted and welcomed. As a dietitian, I work with people from all religious backgrounds, and Leslie's description of the misinterpretation of the Bible (especially gluttony) opened my eyes to even more insidious ways that my clients may feel pressure to lose weight, diet, restrict, etc.

[Jenai Auman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-done and enlightening, Leslie Schilling does a wonderful job of helping readers pull the weeds that diet culture has sown into society’s soil.

She write with empathy, weaving in her understanding of our cultural systems that make feeding oneself difficult for so many, nevermind trying to feed oneself according to the standards of “health” as defined by the diet culture industrial complex.

Schilling invites readers to embrace their own internal wisdom—to learn to nourish your body based on how it speaks. And she helps detangle us from the grip of harmful, unsustainable expectations that want us at war with ourselves.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible read for me. I grew up in diet culture. I remember when I had my firs diet soda. I wasn't on a diet. I was a kid, but it made me feel like a grown-up. That's because all the women in my family were on and off diets. The soda tasted terrible, but I even thought stomaching it was a badge of honor. It is no surprise that I grew up and into an eating disorder by age 13. This book is so freeing and probably one I will re-read, because it is very hard removing those old thought patterns in this era.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just what I needed right now! The author is a Christian, registered dietitian, sports nutritionist, and nutrition therapist, and she takes an approach to health and well-being that was a breath of fresh air! This book goes against the grain of our society in a great way that I hope more people will consider. Every person is unique and every one will have a different path to health and well-being. And it's ok to celebrate body diversity, stop judging yourself and others and figure out what works for you on your path to health and wellness. Excellent read!

[Marci · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend and colleague, Leslie Schilling is a professional and writer I deeply admire. Finally, we have an expert speaking to the urgent need we have to uproot diet culture out of the spaces that should be safe, particularly church. Written in a no-nonsense yet compassionate style, Leslie has written the anti-diet book for Christians that has been missing. I hope this will be used in book clubs across religious congregations around the globe!

[Christine Mattiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am working on learning to love my body. This book brought a new perspective....a Christian perspective to help me better understand that all bodies are good bodies. This is a very positive and powerful book for giving me tools to counter the mean and hateful self-talk that goes on in my head.

If you are a Christian who is working to undo diet culture or negative self-talk, then this book is a good one to read to support yourself on your journey.

[Bridget Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Leslie Schilling, for writing a book that enlightens and educates. Recovering from an ED myself (mostly due to diet culture’s influence on my life), I was able to relate to many parts of this book. This is an important read for anyone struggling with diet culture’s immense pressures or for anyone who may not even know the effect that diet culture is having on their life. It’s eye opening and informative.

[Megan Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fellow dietitian and Christian, I cannot recommend this book enough. This is the tool that our body of Christ needs to find freedom from diet culture by fully embracing our good and divine design. I cannot recommend it enough and pray that you sit with and work through the layers of the messages for as long as it takes to embrace the abundant life that is for you! Thank you for this gift to use all Leslie💖

[Alison Bylsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever struggled with the lies the world is throwing at you about your body, food, and exercise YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I 100% recommend reading this, it’s shorter and easy to follow for those who don’t typically like reading haha.
This book beautifully combines historical context science, and Biblical Truth along with real life stories and so eye opening, will definitely be referring back to its truth!!

[Mia Worth · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the science and research supporting intuitive eating and the scripture that helps me see how rejecting diet culture is another way of being in the world but not of the world. Ive read many books in the undieting space and this one soothes my spirit far more than the others. A beautiful book with a great balance of the authors experience and external resources.

[Katherine Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person of faith, trying to heal myself from disordered eating, I found this book very helpful. It's a great deep dive into the pervasiveness of diet culture in all areas of life, especially what the author calls our "safe spaces". Warning: this book may depress you as you come face to face with all the lies you've been fed (pun intended) your whole life.

[Ashley Ludlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fellow Registered Dietitian, I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever questioned whether they should have eaten something, had anyone comment on their body or size, or have ever felt uncomfortable in their body. This book can completely change your relationship to your body and to food.

[Kea4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good overview about ones relationship to food vs dieting. It brings up some very good points about diets and ideal body weight.

https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...

[Nikki Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an extremely important read! Leslie Schilling helps the reader see what has gone unseen for so long in our safe spaces. Her writing has a warm and empathetic tone that feels like speaking to your very best friend. A must read!

[Heather Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always wrestled when church members use biblical quotes to justify diet culture. This book is such a safe space to dissect those quotes through a spiritual lens. It is biblically sound in its rejection of diet culture.

[Guerry Sisters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 star
Genre: Nonfiction/Nutrition/Health/Christian

Thoughts: This was a very helpful & insightful book that I would share as a resource for anyone who identify with the Christian faith & is exploring their relationship with food👏👏👏